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Entertainment One Pulls Plans for Outright Sale

No bids to match its price tag has led the Canadian indie producer of "Rookie Blue" and "The Walking Dead" to take itself off the auction block.

TORONTO - Canadian indie producer Entertainment One has pulled plans to sell the company outright.

It’s understood no formal bids for the UK publicly-listed company were received to satisfy the intended sales price, as Entertainment One in a statement Monday said “proposals” made for all or parts of the company “did not adequately reflect the company's value.”

Stock in Toronto-based Entertainment One fell sharply Monday on the London Stock Exchange on news it was off the auction block, with shares falling 32 pence ($.50), or 16.3 percent, to 166 pence ($2.62).

Entertainment One, which produces TV shows like Rookie Blue and The Walking Dead, and is the Canadian and UK distributor of the Twilight movie franchise, has diversified in recent years into filmed entertainment to offset a North American physical home entertainment wholesaling business that remains a drag on its bottom line.

The Canadian company in September 2011 appointed investment banks JP Morgan Cazenove and Credit Suisse to consider possible bids for the company after Entertainment One pointed to buyer “interest.“

Entertainment One on Monday said it would continue, with the advice of Credit Suisse and JP Morgan, to weigh possible “acquisition opportunities” going forward.

The indie producer will be looking for alternative ways for London-based hedge fund manager Marwyn Investment Management to possibly cash out of the company after it first took a major stake in 2007 and took its listing to Britain.